Watching Paint Dry
by zenintheart
Summary: Fiona talks Eli into trying something new.


**Author's Note: This was just an idea that popped into my head before Paper Planes (2) aired. Now that it has it is kind of AU. I hope you get a kick out of this shallow little story and that you don't find it to out of character. This was beta'ed by my friend degrassinsanity on Twitter. Thank you very much for that! Also, please pay attention to the bold letters in this story. If you list them in the order in which they appear then they'll spell a Degrassi character. If you figure it out leave the name in a review! If you have any comments, negative or positive, please tell me. **

Two teenagers sat at one of the many metal tables that littered the sidewalk in front of theDot. On one side of the table, the shady side so the 'damn sun' wouldn't be so blinding, sat a girl with long brown curls reading a magazine. She was dressed in the frilliest of blue shirts, accented only by the strand of freshwater pearls that hung around her neck. Oppositely sat a boy with dark stringy hair looking menacingly at his computer's screen, he was dressed in shades of black, the only color his rosy pouted lips. A once warm plate of french fries stood cooling and neglected between the two, the smell of vinegar lightly fragranced the brisk air. Fiona Coyne had the latest issue of Vogue in front of her. It had been opened to the same perfume sample, Aftelier's Haute **C**laire, for twenty minutes now as she watched her lover/friend/roommate clean the scooters at Motoretta. Her face held a longing gaze that fixated on Charlie as she ran a yellow cloth over the leather seats. Oblivious, Elijah Goldsworthy sat across from her, taken in his own work. The boy had his face buried in his laptop as his long fingers tapped out a fast techno beat. Charlie turned away from the blue scooter for a moment and caught wind of Fiona's line of sight. She looked over towards the younger girl and sent her a questioning grin before resuming cleaning. Fiona looked down as blood pooled behind her cheeks and tinged them rouge. She reached her manicured hand out to the plate in front of her and popped a fry in her mouth. Her face traded in all signs of embarrassment for a look of distaste as the mushy potato moved between her teeth.

"Gross!" she spit out once she had begrudgingly swallowed the french fry,

"All soggy." Eli **l**ooked up from his computer and smirked at his friend's expression.

"Yum**.**" he spoke excitedly, "They're the best that way." He reached forward and grabbed a handful, shoving them all into his mouth at once. Fiona shot him a glare, "You disgust me." He grinned as he reached towards the plate for a second helping. Fiona was halfway through an eyeroll as she caught sight of Eli's black nails. She stifled a laugh.

"Is that - n**a**il polish?" A low grumble could be heard from the boy as he let out a mangled "shut up" that could hardly be heard over Fiona's boisterous laughter. Once the girl had calmed down she apologized for laughing, giggling through it.

"It's not nail polish," Eli mumbled. "It's Sharpie."

"Why?"

"I don't know," Eli shrugged. "Habit." Fiona nodded and tu**r**ned her gaz**e** to her own fingernails, meticulously painted OPI's "Lincoln Park After Dark", a black pigment that resembled Eli's polish of choice.

"So you color them every day?"

"Yup," Eli said, popping the 'p'. "They rub off throughout the course of the day." Fiona's face lit up and her excitement drew a wary expression from **E**li.

"You should paint them," she mused and hel**d** out her own painted fingers for Eli to inspect.

"Uh, no thanks," Eli scoffed. As if she could control it by sheer will, Fiona's face began morphing. Her eyes seemed to grow in circumference, her pupils dilated, and her eyebrows disappeared into her hairline as her lips took shape of a pout. Eli looked away, then turned back. The older girl looked as if he had just kicked her puppy, stolen her lollipop, and knocked over her ice cream all at once.

"Damn," Eli muttered. "You're too good at that."

She began squealing in excitement.

"This is going to be so fun," she remarked. Eli t**w**itched.

"Sure. Fun.**" ** Fiona seemed to have completely lost interest in Charlie for the moment as thoughts of giving a manicure to Eli swarmed her mind. The girl nearly knocked over her chair as she hastily stood up, dancing on her feet in anticipation as Eli went inside to throw out their mostly uneaten plate of fries. The bell dinged as Eli emerged onto the sidewalk and Fiona began blabbing about different types of nail polish as the two began the short walk to Fiona's humble loft.

"You're going to want black right? Of course you'll want black. I have so many different shades of black to choose from! There's the OPI, There's the Ciate… Oh! Oh! Or the Eyeko." Eli groaned as he wondered what he had gotten himself into. The two kept moving as Fiona continued to babble and Eli continued to turn out her babbling. Soon they had reached the lobby of The Candy Factory Lofts.

"Good day David," Fiona greeted as she pulled Eli by his grey sleeved coat through the foyer. She pushed the boy into the elevator and tapped the button for the fourth floor with force. The elevator began it's flight upwards as soft rock with no vocals began to play above their heads. Quickly, the doors opened out into Fiona's apartment, the light scent of tulips filled the room. Eli didn't have any time to marvel at enormity of the Fiona's "humble abode" as she pulled him into her bathroom. The room was tastefully decorated with black marble counter top, the lightest pink walls, and dainty washcloths hanging on dainty hooks. Fiona rummaged through the linen closet across from the sink, **harboring **a large rack meant to hold pastries at fancy luncheons. The gold platter was covered with hundreds of nail polishes, the pickings of an actual nail salon.

"You're crazy," the boy smirked.

"Eh. I guess we both are," Fiona winked back as she shoved the tray into Eli's personal space. After about ten minutes of Fiona discussing the different blacks with him, being unsuccessful in her attempts to coerce Eli into wearing a dark purple, they decided on a black. A black that looked like all other blacks. A black that could have been chosen in thirty seconds. The curly haired girl led him into the living room, pushing Eli onto the couch as she kneeled in front of him. A position which the boy couldn't let pass without a jive.

"You know…" was all he had to s**a**y before Fiona knocked him on the head. "Gross!" she spoke adamantly and pulled his hands to her. They were cold and bony and Fiona would've dropped her grip on them in a second hand she not been so excited to paint his nails. She pulled the petite brush from it's cylindrical bottle, wiped it against the bottles edge and pressed it into the moon of Eli's thumb first. She pulled it forwards, coloring the nail black in the same manner as a wave rolling in on the beach. She made quick work of the task with her steady hands, as Eli quipped above he**r**. Even he had to a**d**mit that it was nice having a friend, and her excitement, while a bit much, was also very endearing. Soon his nails all lay painted for Bullfrog to tea**s**e him about.

"Now stay still" Fiona commanded. "We don't want to mess it up." Time passed as she cleaned up the nail polish and settled onto the couch with her new friend, with Lost playing on the TV and both of them talking about everything; Adam, Clare, school, Ms. Dawes, Klonopin and Paxil, missing people, being tired, being sad, being alone. Both of them acknowledged the fact that it was nice to have a new friend. Fiona turned to the home shopping network just as the saleslady was demonstrating some mascara and she gave Eli a heart attack as she leapt out of her seat.

"I have some new eyeliner you **need **to try."

No."

"Please!"

"No."


End file.
